The final lineup announcement for the King Of The Monsters20th anniversary fest has been made, and it's a doozy. For those that don't like to read flyers, a full list will be below. Tickets for the fest will be available on Wednesday, April 29th.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Unless you live under a rock, you've heard that Into Another released a new 5 song EP this week named Omens. In the midst of almost every band from the 90's reuniting to play shows, it's great to actually hear some new material from one of them, and it's good. Really good. To get you up to speed on what's going on with the band, here is their official press release:

Hauntingly ethereal melodies, intricate but memorable hooks, dynamic moods, crunchy riffs and the banshee wail of a metaphor-master lead singer collide within the groundbreaking and steadfastly unique outfit known as INTO ANOTHER. Almost disturbingly defiant of categorization, Into Another's catalog dabbles in hard rock, alt-rock, grunge, electro-pop and post-hardcore, somehow without sounding disjointed or disorganized.

Into Another came together in 1990. Richie Birkenhead, one-time guitar player for seminal straightedge flag bearers Youth of Today and vocalist for the reggae-tinged hardcore band Underdog hooked up with drummer Drew Thomas, himself a veteran of old-school youth crew bands Crippled Youth and Bold. Both men shared a desire to abandon the restrictive musical and aesthetic limitations of the scene without sacrificing its sense of community or passionate spirit.

The pair found exactly what they were looking for in Lower East Side musician Peter Moses, a longhaired guitar player who had never performed in a band before. His virtuosic and uninhibited playing style awed Thomas and Birkenhead, who next recruited incredibly fluid bassist Tony Bono. Bono had done a tour of duty in proto-speed metal act Whiplash, who once lent a member to Slayer.

The following year, Revelation Records released their debut, a self-titled album displaying Into Another's sharp musical chops and tripped-out spiritual vision, encapsulated by the band's eleven-pointed star logo which adorned the album's cover artwork. In 1992, Into Another released the playfully titled Creepy Eepy - four songs that reflected their increasing range.

1994 saw the release of what many consider to be their masterstroke - the epic Ignaurus album, filled to the brim with spectacular songs that venture into deep, dark, and progressive rock territory while still being firmly anchored in melody, groove, and abrasive angst. This album catapulted Into Another into the ranks of much-heralded "buzz" bands. Into Another signed a major label deal of their own in 1995 with the Disney-owned label Hollywood Records.

Into Another entered Seattle's London Bridge Studios with Rick Parashar, who had produced Pearl Jam's cultural mile marker, Ten, as well as the Temple of the Dog album and Alice In Chain's Sap EP. The band emerged with Seemless, which reigned in some of their excesses in favor of shorter compositions and straightforward lyrics without sacrificing Into Another's well-established musical identity.

The band set off on tours with groups including White Zombie and Seaweed. The video for "Mutate Me" received some airplay and "T.A.I.L.," which spawned an EP of the same name, was a Top 40 rock radio track.

Even as Into Another's relationship with Hollywood (and with one another) began to unravel, they managed to record another album's worth of material. Sadly, the record was never released and the band parted ways with their record label and eventually with one another. Any hope of a reunion seemed to disappear with the tragic death of Tony Bono in 2002. The remaining members drifted further apart as the years rolled on.

Then, in 2012, as plans came together for a series of shows to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Revelation Records, one of the guys from a later generation of Rev bands reached out. Longtime Into Another fan and supporter Brian Balchack (Ignite) and his good friend Reid Black (Innaway) videotaped themselves playing guitar and bass on several Into Another songs, which inspired Richie and Drew to get back onstage for the Rev shows. Once Peter got wind of the developing plans he was onboard as well.

Now a quintet united by the alchemy of the past and the chemistry of the present, Into Another's eleven-pointed star rose once again. After blowing people’s minds at REV 25, Into Another played a few shows on both coasts as they set about recording some new songs. Due to the immediacy of new technologies, Into Another has been able to take a 21st Century approach to their timeless music. Their new 5-song EP, titled Omens, is truly the right album at the right time. Recalling the bands iconic sound, yet expanding on it, fans and new listeners will once again realize why Into Another is truly one of the most important bands of any time.

OMENS is available now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play and Rdio. Click HERE for links.

Friday, April 10, 2015

With Indecision's "Unorthodox" having been reissued a few years ago, the time has come for Most Precious Blood to see the light of day again as well. Having a release date of April 21st, Most Precious Blood will make its mark once again via Closed Casket Activities. The extra beauty of this new reissue is that it will also feature the three tracks from the same recording session that ended up on the split 10" with Shai Hulud, and the entire session has been remastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.

Here's a stream of the remastered "Making People Apologize For Accusing You Of Things You Actually Did"

Indecision - Most Precious Blood is now available for pre-order via Closed Casket Activities here:

1-Dream Come True2-This
TimeTomorrow3-Falling
In Love Is Life Setting Yourself On Fire And Hoping You Won't GetBurned4-The
World Is Just Another Thing In My Way5-Most
Precious Blood6-What
Culture?7-...And
You Wear Too Much Make-Up8-Last
Beat Of My Heart9-False
Prophet Preaching10-Samaritan11-Crucifix
Escapist12-Slave13-No
Place Like Home14-How
Far The Mighty Have Fallen15-Making
People Apologize For Accusing You Of Things You Actually Did16-Glue

Also of note is that the Indecision - What It Once Meant DVD is currently available as well

Monday, April 6, 2015

Halfway through a show on December 29th, 1992, a band
of lanky young guys in hoodies and striped baggy shirts set up and began a wall
of feedback. The singer yelled “put up your hoods!” and the place and band
exploded. What happened was monstrous. The energy level was off the charts and
provided me with one of the most strikingly incredible memories of the time; a
girl in a Real Skateboards long sleeve shirt straight up LEVELING dudes in the
pit. It was like bearing witness to the second coming- everything about the set
and the reaction it generated made me believe that the straight edge vegan revolution
was real. This was my introduction to Earth Crisis.

A few weeks later, a friend of mine tracked down a copy of
the “All Out War” ep. I sat in his room listening to it and it was literally
nothing like the band I had just seen. It lacked the insane energy and power
that had floored me and was kind of, well, flat. I joined Halfmast in the
summer of 1993 and the bass player, Bill, dubbed me a copy of some new Earth
Crisis stuff, which I recall he got from Mike Warden (Conquer the World
Records) and THAT WAS THE STUFF! It sounded like revolution to me: crazy,
exciting and dangerous. I listened to that dub at least a hundred times. Although
a watershed moment in hardcore, I thought the “Firestorm” ep paled in
comparison and at the Firestorm record release show that October, they were
just more tame than when I has seen them less than a year previous. I'm not
saying it was bad, it was good; the show just had a less urgent, more relaxed
vibe.

Since 1993, I've played shows with and seen Earth Crisis
many times, but nothing connected with me like that first show or the 1993
demo. When my friend Carl said he still had digitized files from a dub he
thinks got from Guav in 93 (he used to
do a ‘zine called Warmachine), I knew it had to be better than the stuff that’s
been out in the digital world for the past 10+ years. So here it is, cleaned up
as best I could, the 8 song 1993 Earth Crisis Demo. Oh yeah, “Time of Strife” from the structure
records comp, I digitized that last year, but did not include it here, as I'll
be adding that to the blog in the near future.